Delivering Culturally Safe Care of the Diabetic Patient in an Indigenous Australian Community

This nursing assignment discusses the importance of culturally safe care for diabetic patients in indigenous Australian communities. It highlights the Australian National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2020 and the role of community healthcare workers in promoting improved diabetes care and outcomes. The article emphasizes the need for effective communication and culturally competent self-management support to increase disease awareness and promote better disease management.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Nursing Assignment: Cultural safety in relation to community care of indigenous
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Delivering culturally safe care of the diabetic patient in an indigenous Australian
community
According to McDermott et al. (2015), the health outcomes for the Aboriginals in
Australia with diabetes in the remote areas remain poor with high level of modifiable
complications, which could be decreased, with improved primary level of care under
community health care settings. Clifford et al. (2015) are of the opinion that better primary
level of care can be achieved via procuring the care plan in a culturally safe and competent
manner. In relation to this, the Australian Government has launched The Australian National
diabetes Strategy 2016 to 2020. The strategy has 7 different goals. The 5th goal of this
strategy mainly aims in reducing the impact of diabetes among the Torres Strait Islander
peoples and other Aboriginals residing in Australia. The Australian National diabetes
Strategy (2016 – 2020) highlighted culturally safe care for diabetic people in indigenous
Australian communities will help in the promotion of disease awareness along with reduction
in the impact of the disease. This culturally safe care plan for diabetes control can be
implemented via expanding consumer engagement and self-management along with an
improvement of the workforce capacity. McDermott et al. (2015) highlighted improvement of
the work capacity to provide culturally safe care to the Indigenous population can be done
through Aboriginal health care worker.
McDermott et al. (2015) highlighted that the adults of Australian Indigenous origin
with type 2 diabetes are approximately 10 years younger than non-indigenous population.
They have poor glycemic control along with low levels of preventive uptake of healthcare
service in comparison to the non-Indigenous adults with diabetes. A culturally competent
care under Indigenous community health set-up will help to promote reduction in the
diabetes-related avoidable hospitalization. The community healthcare workers contribute
promote improved diabetes care and its outcomes among the high risk patients through

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
effective-communication and culturally competent self-management support. Renzaho et al.
(2013) stated that effective communication among the culturally and linguistically diverse
population helps to increase the disease awareness. This increase in the disease awareness
help to the Aboriginal population under informed decision making and active participation in
the therapy plan this promote better disease management. In a culturally component
community healthcare settings, the spiritual thoughts and beliefs of the Aboriginal people are
not looked down upon and cultural tailoring of the interventions help to promote better
disease outcome. The diabetes care under culturally competent community care settings lays
one-on-one interventions with proper individualized assessment that promotes personalized
care approach for the Aboriginal population with diabetes (McDermott et al., 2015).

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
References
Australian Government Department of Health. (2016). Australian National Diabetes
Strategy 2016–2020. Access date: 3rd October 2018. Retrieved from:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/3AF935DA210DA043
CA257EFB000D0C03/$File/Australian%20National%20Diabetes%20Strategy
%202016-2020.pdf
Clifford, A., McCalman, J., Bainbridge, R., & Tsey, K. (2015). Interventions to improve
cultural competency in health care for Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand,
Canada and the USA: a systematic review. International Journal for Quality in
Health Care, 27(2), 89-98.
McDermott, R. A., Schmidt, B., Preece, C., Owens, V., Taylor, S., Li, M., & Esterman, A.
(2015). Community health workers improve diabetes care in remote Australian
Indigenous communities: results of a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled
trial. BMC health services research, 15(1), 68.
Renzaho, A. M. N., Romios, P., Crock, C., & Sønderlund, A. L. (2013). The effectiveness of
cultural competence programs in ethnic minority patient-centered health care—a
systematic review of the literature. International Journal for Quality in Health
Care, 25(3), 261-269.